Farm bill changes to crop insurance detailed in online resource

As the 2014 Farm Bill was signed into law, questions have arisen about how this new legislation affects crop insurance and the farmers who rely on it. A detailed analysis that will answer those questions, including major and minor policy changes, the introduction of new products including SCO and STAX and the link between the premium discount and conservation are all detailed in the newly released version of Crop Insurance: Just the Facts.

“The 2014 Farm Bill is a turning point in federal policy towards agriculture, pivoting away from the traditional support mechanism paradigm of the past and into a risk management model that features crop insurance as farmers’ primary — or only — risk management tool,” noted Tom Zacharias, President of National Crop Insurance Services.

Crop Insurance: Just the Facts, a popular online resource that provides the A to Z overview of federal crop insurance resides here, on the Crop Insurance Keeps America Growing website page “About Crop Insurance” where it is continuously updated.

“This resource has proved invaluable to farmers, students and policy experts who need to better understand the nuts and bolts of crop insurance,” said Zacharias.

In addition to addressing the various aspects of the new Farm Bill, the online series covers important topics such as how crop insurance benefits the public, economics of the industry, risk management in global terms, how crop insurance benefits producers and many other important issues.

Zacharias noted that when it comes to the important details of crop insurance, the reason why farmers, farm groups, the financial community and lenders have thrown their strong support behind crop insurance, and why it has evolved into the main risk management tool for American agriculture, discussions are replete with exaggerations and misrepresentations about crop insurance. “Crop Insurance: Just the Facts, provides the details in an easy to read, reasoned and balanced perspective,” he said.